Chinese websites 'defaced in Anonymous attack'

The Anonymous hacking group claims to have defaced almost 500 websites in China.

Targets hit in the mass defacement included government sites, its official agencies, trade groups and many others.

A message put on the hacked sites said the attack was carried out to protest against the Chinese government's strict control of its citizens.

It urged Chinese people to join Anonymous and stage their own protests against the regime.
Attack pattern

The announcement about the defacements was made via an Anonymous China account that was established in March. A list of the 485 sites affected was put on the Pastebin website. Separate Pastebin messages posted email addresses and other personal details stolen when sites were penetrated.

Sites defaced had the same message posted to them that chided the nation's government for its repressive policies.

It read: "Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall."

China has one of the most comprehensive web surveillance systems in the world, known as the Great Firewall of China, that reinforces its broader social controls. The system polices where Chinese people can go online and tries to restrict what they can talk about.

On defaced pages, the Anonymous attackers also posted links to advice that could help people avoid official scrutiny of what they do and say online. Much of the advice was in English so it is unclear how much help it would be.

There has been no official confirmation of the defacements. News wires reported that government officials had denied any had taken place.

However, many of the sites listed are now offline and a few others displayed a hacked page for a long time rather than their own homepage.

Re: Chinese websites 'defaced in Anonymous attack'

April 6 2012, 5:39 PM

So is this a "terrorist" act? Well the definition of terrorism states that it is, "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes." So why don't we step through that definition (regardless of whether that definition is definitive...hehehe ) and see?

Was violence used? I believe the facts seem to indicate that Anonymous did not use violence in the defacing of the website, so that would be one instance supporting this not being terrorism. (Although I suspect that any retaliation by the Chinese Authorities may very well involve extra-judicial violence against the perpetrators.)

Were threats issued? I have not read all the defacements, however I do suspect numerous threats (and certainly insults) were leveled at the Chinese authorities, however (and again this is a suspicion on my part) I have my doubts that any of the defacements had a message threatening violence against a specific individual or group of individuals in the Chinese establishment. So I will put a second (tentative) instance against this being an act terrorism.

Was this done for political purposes?" Well I think it goes without saying that this was indeed an act with political motivations, so I will put forth a vote for this being an act of terrorism.

So, we have two instances against and one instance supporting this being an act of terrorism. However, use your imagination for a moment and picture an Anonymous attack against the water pumping stations of Beijing...and now picture that dozens of Beijing residents get sick and some even die from water borne illnesses as a result of that attack...is that an act of terrorism, or merely carelessness and poor forethought?

'Anonymous' Warns of More Cyber Attacks in China

April 10 2012, 10:27 AM

The computer hacking group Anonymous, blamed for a spate of cyber-attacks in China in the past week, says it will continue to target government websites to protest Internet censorship and human rights abuses.

Anonymous-China claims to have hacked into hundreds of government and commercial Chinese sites so far this month, and last week there were numerous reports of defaced websites in the country.

Those sites, many of which appeared to be operational Monday, included the home page for the Chengdu business district. A message on that page read in part: "Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall."

Reuters news agency quotes an Anonymous hacker as saying Anonymous-China consists of 10 to 12 people -- most of them based outside China. The hacker said the group has "hundreds" of translators working to hack Chinese sites.

A message recently posted on the defaced website hockeychina.net also warned Beijing that its government is not infallible. That message went on to say: "...We do not forgive. Never. What you are doing today to your great people, tomorrow will be inflicted on you. With no mercy."

China boasts the world's largest online population, with more than one-half billion users. But the government tightly controls the Internet access, using a vast system of censorship that critics call "the great firewall of China."

The United States says the U.S. government has been hit by many high-profile hacking attacks that appear to come from China. Those targets include U.S.-based human rights groups that advocate for Tibetan autonomy, as well as for other ethnic minorities and some U.S. companies.

China has consistently denied involvement in those attacks and claims that it too is a frequent target of cyber vandalism.

Re: Chinese websites 'defaced in Anonymous attack'

April 10 2012, 10:31 AM

"just imagine the amount of state secrets and abuses that can be unleashed if wikileaks or a hacktivist organisation can get through the great firewall. an example is the supposed feud within the communist party between the competing factions is currently being played out."

Well this is the problem for any totalitarian government, a large part of their power lies in the fact they control information, that control of information generally supports a corrupt and inefficient middle level of management who has discovered that that making up positive results and suppressing problems is a heck of lot easier than actually accomplishing things and dealing with problems. The funny part is that in the West the same thing runs rampant in large commercial organizations.

"Come out from man foul spirit.What is thy name?"
And he said unto him,"Our name is legion, for we are many."Gospel of Mark, 5 - 8

Patriotism is your convictionthat your country issuperior to all others becauseyou were born in it.
George Bernard Shaw